Mbeki ups Aids spending

South Africa will nearly quadruple its spending on HIV/Aids, a big step by President Thabo Mbeki's government to deal with the pandemic.

South Africa has the highest number of people with HIV/Aids in the world, with an estimated 5.3 million - more than 12% of the population - infected. An estimated 1,000 South Africans die of Aids every day.

The finance minister, Trevor Manuel, told parliament on Wednesday that the government would spend R12.1bn (£1bn) over the next three years, with R1.9bn used to provide anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs through government hospitals and clinics.

"This is a good starting point, the figure is much more than we expected," said Sipho Mthathi of the Treatment Action Campaign, which has pressed the government to make ARV drugs more widely available.

Health activists have accused the government of dragging its feet in developing an effective Aids strategy.

The cabinet is expected to give the final go-ahead for the provision of the medications next week. The price of the drugs will be held down by using lower-cost, generic drugs, some of which may be produced in South Africa.